Dany Horovitz pulls the Band-Aid off a doomed relationship in his rockin’ new single Don’t Look To Me — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Some breakups are mutual, some crush you, and some have you wishing the other would just go away as fast as possible. The last kind was the inspiration behind Don’t Look To Me. The first single on the Canadian singer-songwriter’s upcoming album Phanerorhyme, the cut combines a catchy chorus and up-tempo melody with lyrics that describe someone very ready to move on from their significant other.
“Here we are stuck in old routine
I’ve had enough, do you know what I mean
You call me lover, you call me friend
I tell you I’m broken, you ask me to bend.
Don’t look to me, I’m not your own
I’m not your saviour, and I’m not your home
It’s getting late, what’s more to say
I’m getting tired and you cannot stay.”
The singer performs these lines over a ’90s-style pop-rock background that evokes the high-energy songs of Barenaked Ladies — who just happen to be Horovitz’s favorite Canadian band. Don’t Look To Me is a bit of a departure from earlier releases that featured strong folk vibes — but with this track, Horovitz loudly declares his versatility and flexes his rock muscles. And the pace and energy of the song are why Horovitz decided to make it the leadoff single and opening track from the album.
“I wanted to front-load the higher energy songs, so the first three songs especially have a lot of drive,” he explains. “Of those three songs, I think that Don’t Look To Me is catchiest because of its earworm of a chorus. It also has my trademark ‘sweet-melody-paired-with-dark-lyrics’ thing. In short, people who know me are going to like it a lot and hear something new and interesting, and it’s a great entry point for anyone who has never heard my music before, too.”
Phanerorhyme will be Horovitz’s second full-length and third project. In 2021, he released his first single Moving On, which dove into post-breakup recovery and serves as an apt juxtaposition to Don’t Look To Me. “Moving On was about feeling joy again after going through heartbreak,” Horovitz says. “Don’t Look To Me makes for an interesting counterpoint, because it is an upbeat song about saying good riddance to someone.”
Horovitz must have had someone particular in mind when he recorded this song in Toronto, because his vocals matches the heat of the instrumentals, only gaining energy as the track goes on. It culminates in a very memorable close. “One interesting thing happens at the end where I hold the final note basically forever,” Horovitz said. “The last 30 seconds of the song is all one breath.”
Check out Don’t Look To Me above, hear more from Dany Horovitz below, and look him up on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
